What is the difference between a binary tree and a binary search tree?

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What is the difference between a binary tree and a binary search tree?

The main difference between a binary tree and a binary search tree lies in their structural organization and the rules they follow.

A binary tree is a hierarchical data structure in which each node has at most two children, referred to as the left child and the right child. The order or arrangement of the nodes in a binary tree does not follow any specific pattern or rule.

On the other hand, a binary search tree (BST) is a type of binary tree that follows a specific ordering rule. In a BST, for every node, all the values in its left subtree are less than the node's value, and all the values in its right subtree are greater than the node's value. This ordering property allows for efficient searching, insertion, and deletion operations.

In summary, while a binary tree can have any arrangement of nodes, a binary search tree follows a specific ordering rule that makes it suitable for efficient searching.